Lake Titicaca & Lima

When you last heard from us, we were pretty pleased with our adjustment to the high altitude of Cusco. We decided to take a train to the only city in Peru that is higher, on the shores of the highest navigable body of water in the world, Lake Titicaca (let’s just pause for giggles here and get it out of the way, Titicaca is a funny word). The ten hour train ride through the Andes peaked at 4319 meters above sea level, which by our bodies’ calculations is approximately 70 billion feet.

The train eventually left us in Puno, which is a fairly unremarkable city with very remarkable surroundings.

We only had one day of free time so we decided to take in the sights with the most efficient possible method of transportation: Peruvian style duck tour!

The big attraction around Lake Titicaca, aside from walking slowly up flights of stairs and panting, is the floating Uros Islands, which are man-made from reeds that grow in the shallow parts of the lake.

As of 2015, there were 83 floating islands, all with their own community and elected leader. This however, can change depending on relationships. Islands can be combined, or, if you are upset with your neighbors, you can cut yourself free into your own island. And, of course, each island comes with its own cat.

The people of the islands, especially the women, still dress in bright, traditional clothes that were developed for the ancient art of entertaining tourists.

After visiting the Uros islands, we took a very long and very very bumpy boat ride to Taquile island, which is a natural island in Lake Titicaca that is also still inhabited by mostly indigenous people. The island is very beautiful, and the stone walls and terraced farming make you feel like you’re on the world’s coldest mediterranean island.

Or, when walking through this particular gate, like you’re entering Heisenberg’s lair.

We hiked (when you’re above 13,000 feet, every walk is a hike) up to the town square and had an opportunity to learn about the customs and clothes of the locals. On Taquile Island, there are very specific clothing customs, such as unmarried men wearing hats that are red-and-white while married men wear only red. Married women wear black shawls, and if they are single (or unknowing tourists) bright colorful scarves to attract the men.

Finally, we decided that oxygen is important for human life and we headed down to the coastal capitol city of Lima. Strengthened by the sea air, we embarked on a 10 mile stroll through all of the waterfront neighborhoods, especially Barranco with its colorful colonial houses and hipster vibe.

Exhausted, we headed home, but as we crossed the park near our hostel, our cat-spotting alarm started going off… there were dozens of cats in this park! We returned the next morning in daylight for better photo visibility, and also because Jessie actually slept in the park surrounded by cats.

Even Phil got in on the cat-cuddling action, although the cats mostly just ran away from him. There was a third cat sleeping directly in Phil’s shadow, but we didn’t realize that until he stood up.